A delegation from the Kurdish National Council (KNC) met with the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, in Syria, without an official announcement from the SDF.
The Kurdish agency “Rudaw” (based in Erbil) reported on Tuesday, January 28, from the spokesperson of the Kurdish National Council in Syria, Faisal Yusuf, stating that the meeting was “positive.”
Yusuf mentioned that a delegation from the leadership of the National Council held a meeting with Mazloum Abdi, during which they discussed a “unified position and a joint delegation,” and both parties agreed to “stop the media war,” noting that officials from the International Coalition attended the meeting.
He added that if the talks continued in this manner, the two parties would soon agree on a joint delegation.
A couple of days prior, Abdullah Kaddo, the representative of the Kurdish National Council in the political body of the Syrian National Coalition, told Enab Baladi that a forthcoming meeting would bring the Council together with the SDF, although he did not specify the exact date.
He mentioned that the meeting aims to “unify the Kurdish discourse regarding the national rights of Kurds in general, in order to establish them in the country’s constitution.”
According to Kaddo, the parties agreed to hold a meeting between the leadership of the Kurdish National Council and the commander of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi, facilitated by American and French mediation.
The US State Department did not respond to questions posed by Enab Baladi regarding its role in the meeting, noting that it does not plan to conduct interviews or provide statements until the new spokesperson for the State Department begins daily press conferences.
The Kurdish National Council also aims to demand the release of prisoners and uncover the fate of the missing individuals by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), the political umbrella of the SDF.
Following his meeting with Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani earlier this January, Abdi stated, “The position of Kurds in Syria must be unified and dialogue with Damascus must protect the rights of the Kurdish people in a peaceful manner.”
Barzani received Mazloum Abdi at his resort in Salahaddin in Erbil, the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where both sides discussed several issues concerning Kurdish affairs and Syrian affairs.
Years of disputes
Over the years, conflicts have arisen between the SDF and the Kurdish National Council, resulting in the exclusion of the Council from any forms of governance in northeastern Syria. Military groups loyal to the SDF and its components have arrested members of the Council, and some of them remain imprisoned to this day.
The parties had previously initiated sessions known as “Kurdish-Kurdish dialogue,” represented by two main poles: the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which forms the cornerstone of the Autonomous Administration, and the Kurdish National Council, along with independents, in November 2019, to resolve disputes between the aforementioned parties.
While the US and European countries support the SDF, allied with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the opposing main party, the Kurdish National Council, receives support from Erbil and Turkey, and is a member of the National Coalition for Syrian Opposition Forces (Syrian National Coalition).
The dialogues focus on involving the Kurdish National Council in the administration of areas controlled by the SDF in northeastern Syria and allowing its military wing, “Peshmerga Roj,” to participate in the security and military management of areas in the Eastern Euphrates.
The main point of contention between the parties revolves around regional governance, as the SDF rejects allowing the Kurdish National Council to engage in military, political, and security management.